Case Closed
by RunsWithScizors
Summary: Calem and Serena have saved the Kalos region, and the whole world, from a man bent on destroying it for the greater good. Now, because the world can't seem to stay saved for long, they're called to join some new friends to save the people of Lumiose City from the return of Team Flare. Fortunately, this time they have more help... (Destiny Bond's postgame)
1. Life After Lysandre

**Guess who decided that putting our Portal 2 story up first would be taking too long? Guess who wrote this first chapter in a week?**

 **If you guessed me for the first one and my partner in crime for the second, you were right. Now it's time for Case Closed, the sequel to Destiny Bond. Now with more direct shipping.**

 _Five months post-Lysandre..._

Calem woke up in his own bedroom in his mother's house. He still wasn't used to that. It had been a while since he ended up in the Kalos region Hall of Fame, but he still half-expected to wake up in a Pokémon Center, with Serena sitting on the other bed across the room, making bets with her Delphox on when he would get up.

His confusion was not helped by the fact that his mom hadn't sent her Fletchling in to attack him since before he even met Serena.

Then again, Grace hadn't even shown up at the parade to honor her son and his friends. Not that Calem blamed her, another celebrity would have been distracting the attention from where it belonged. But even the Fletchling that had assaulted him at the parade hadn't belonged to her.

Speaking of Grace, she was probably still waiting for him.

Sure enough, when Calem had finally dragged himself downstairs, Grace was already facing the morning. "Professor Sycamore called," she said, watching as her son headed right for the coffee. Apparently, she'd learned not to say 'Good morning' when he was only awake physically. "He said he wanted to meet you at Lumiose Station."

"Lumiose Station?" Calem repeated, sure that he had never heard those words in that order before. And he had been to Lumiose City on at least three different occasions, and only preoccupied with saving the world during one of them.

"It's a train station in Lumiose City." He grunted in acknowledgement, and she continued with the message. "He said that there was something important he needed to get out of the way."

"Why didn't he use my Holo Caster?"

"He said he did, but that you never picked up."

"I was sleeping!"

"That's what I told him. Then he questioned why you were sleeping at 10:30 in the morning."

"It's not 10:30 in the morning!"

"Of course not." Grace gestured at the clock on the wall. "It's _noon_. I was just letting the new Champion of Kalos learn to set his own schedule, but apparently, I've failed as a mother."

Calem stared at the clock for a solid ten seconds, letting it sink in. "No wonder the coffee's cold," he commented.

And that was the exact moment that Grace gave up on her son. "He did say that Serena was accepting the same offer," she added, deciding not to comment. "Don't you want to see her again?"

Of course he did. He'd been through a lot with Serena, and it was still unusual to do anything less private than sleeping without her. So, with that in mind, he took a large gulp of cold coffee, poured the rest of it down the sink, said goodbye to his mother, and walked out, wondering if Serena had already made it to Lumiose Station.

He was halfway to the edge of town when he realized that he could have called her to see. He was halfway back to her house when he realized that he could have taken Yveltal.

* * *

"You haven't changed at all, have you?"

It had been only days since he'd last spoken to Serena, and the sound of her voice was almost calming. His partner in crime was right by his side, just like she should be, as they were heading off to see Professor Sycamore.

He wondered, even as he agreed with her statement, whether or not she still had that crush on the professor. Sycamore had confirmed his relationship with Diantha, the acting Champion of Kalos at the time of Team Flare, but Serena hadn't talked about her feelings on it.

She didn't seem to be reluctant, but that was all Calem could see.

"What do you think he wants to talk about?" he dared to ask as they were flying across the sky on the local god of death and destruction.

"Pokedex stuff, probably." Serena shrugged. "He already thanked us for putting a stop to Lysandre's insanity, didn't he?"

"But there's still the possibility that Lysandre survived the collapse," Calem reminded her. "Maybe they finally dug him out and Professor Sycamore wants to ask us what we want done with him."

Serena grinned. "I'd say they should put him back."

He laughed with her. "Exactly."

The bird landed, and Calem held out a pink Pokepuff to pay for the service before calling it back into the Master Ball that it called home.

The designated drop-off space was one of the Pokémon Centers, and the saviors of Kalos took a moment to look around at all the awed and occasionally horrified faces as the people of Lumiose realized exactly what they had seen. Calem looked around uncertainly, and then said something so basic that it must have been entirely underwhelming.

"Does anyone know where we can get to Lumiose Station?"

"Uh…" said a nearby cab driver, the window of his vehicle open as he took a break to enjoy the nice day. "I can take you. I guess."

"Thank you." Calem walked to the back of the cab and held the door open for Serena.

"Such a gentleman," she teased, and Calem deliberately looked away.

"Shut up."

Serena did so, but it didn't go quiet. The cab driver had started to speak again as he pulled away from the curb. "So, uh…was that…"

"Yveltal? Yes." Calem shrugged, as if it meant nothing. "Unfortunately, Yveltal didn't know the way to Lumiose Station any more than we did."

"Huh." The driver wasn't quite done. "It's not often we get someone with a legendary around here. It's not often anyone even sees a legendary."

Calem gave the mirror a wide, innocent smile. "It's going to be a lot more often now, though," he said, and the driver pulled up to another curb. The Station wasn't that far from the Pokémon Center they'd landed at. That was unusual. He handed the driver a handful of money and hopped out of the car, leaving the door open for his friend to close herself as he walked to the doors of the building.

Serena caught up to him quickly, and continued the conversation easily: "Wait until he sees me release Xerneas and just ride it like a Ponyta."

* * *

Professor Sycamore was waiting for them, all alone in the station. There were other people, of course, but none of his assistants were present. Not even Trevor was there, which was an actual disappointment.

Still, he was prepared for their arrival. "There you are!" he said, though the look in his eyes said 'It took you long enough.' "I hope you were enjoying your time off?"

"Immensely." Serena playfully nudged Calem. "I'm sorry I'm late, but I didn't want to leave without him, and he didn't leave his house until noon."

"I didn't get out of bed until noon," Calem added, sounding more proud of himself than he should be. "What did you want us for, Professor?"

Professor Sycamore handed each of them a train pass. "I wanted to give you passes to Kiloude City," he explained. "Consider it a bonus for convincing Lysandre to destroy the weapon and prevent its use in the future."

Calem opened his mouth to say that there was still a chance that someone would recreate the weapon, but a look from Serena silenced him. So, instead, he nodded, mouth closed in the hope of holding in his thoughts.

"Kiloude City is a popular destination," Sycamore was saying. He looked at Serena pointedly. "There aren't that many places to shop, but there are plenty of opportunities to battle."

"I'll find and enjoy both," she promised. Calem had no doubt she would.

"And of course," Sycamore continued, "I would like to ask you to continue collecting information about Mega Evolution for me."

"Why don't you do this yourself, since it's your lab?" Calem asked.

Professor Sycamore froze, then cleared his throat. "I have no Key Stone," he said, keeping his answer short. "And even if I did, I have other things on my mind at the moment."

"Of course you do," Serena said before Calem could challenge the statement. "And I'm sure we can get the extra data for you, Professor."

"If not," he said with a smile that started heating her face immediately, "I have other assistants."

"We'll try, then." Calem took Serena's hand and pulled her away. "Thanks for the passes, Professor."

"Bye!" Serena called, waving with her free hand.

They scanned their passes, boarded the train, and were off.

* * *

They returned to Lumiose City after only five hours. The Battle Maison, while interesting, was far too competitive for them to deal with at the moment.

But that was when Calem got another call from Professor Sycamore. "It's about your Sylveon," the professor explained, and Calem immediately felt his heart skip. Sylveon might not have been the brightest bulb out there, but she was still an important member of Calem's team and as loyal as any Pokémon could be expected to be.

"Is she safe?"

"She's as safe as she ever is," Professor Sycamore reassured him. "She's fully recovered from her…self-imposed injury."

"What injury?" Serena asked, concerned.

Calem was not as concerned. "Oh. I left her with the professor when she got her head stuck in a bucket."

"How did she…" Serena flailed her hands around. "Her head is barely bigger than my fist!"

"It was a small bucket. More like a pail, now that I think about it."

"But her EARS! And the bow…things! How did they FIT?"

"That's why I left her with the professor – I hoped he could use science to figure that part out." Calem turned his attention back to his Holo Caster as his friend gave up on trying to make sense out of Sylveon. "Thanks for telling me. We'll stop by your lab on our way back home and pick her up."

"I'm not at the lab." Sycamore sounded very disappointed, and they could only guess what Sylveon had done. "The reason I know that Sylveon is entirely recovered is that I made plans to meet Diantha at the Anistar sundial, and Sylveon sat there and screamed until I agreed to take her with me. I was hoping that the sight of her trainer would distract her from being my constant companion."

"That's my Sylveon." Calem rolled his eyes. "All right, then. We'll hop on Yveltal and crash your date to get the pink menace off your hands."

"I would appreciate it."

He didn't sound sarcastic at all.

* * *

By the time they reached the Anistar sundial, they had heard enough of Professor Sycamore's voice to know that Sylveon had somehow stolen something important, and was currently playing a game with the poor man. The sight was even worse.

Sylveon had a paper between her teeth, and her tail was wagging like a happy dog's as she jumped from bench to bench, and once even off the professor's back. Sycamore himself had given up on chasing her and was instead just reaching for the paper whenever she got close enough.

"Sylveon, freeze!"

Calem's order was enough to stop the Pokémon from having more fun, and she stopped in place immediately.

"Now," Calem said, pointing to Sycamore, "give the man his notes."

Sylveon immediately dropped the paper at Sycamore's feet. **"It was just a game,"** she protested as he bent down to collect it before it blew away.

"What are the notes for, Professor?" Serena asked, and Sycamore put the paper into his pocket.

"It's just a theory," he said, "but I was going to ask you to do this for me, anyway. Dexio managed to find a Key Stone for himself, and I found a way to alter it so it could help him find more Mega Stones."

"That's pretty cool," Calem admitted. "Can you do it to mine?"

"It's not going to be easy," Sycamore explained. "Dexio's upgrade only works for half an hour per day. I made a few notes so that I could work on upgrading that, and giving you that upgrade…" He ran a hand through his perfect hair. "I didn't mean for you to find out so soon, but Sylveon found the notes before I could hide them."

"Half an hour might be all the time I have to use the Mega Stone tracker," Calem pointed out. He pulled off his Mega Ring and handed it out to Sycamore. "Can you give me whatever updates you've made?"

"A little impatient there, Calem," Serena pointed out, but Sycamore just laughed it off.

"Dexio's uses technology to find the Mega Stones," Sycamore said, refusing to take the device from Calem. "But thinking about how this sundial gives off a strange light…would you help my theory by touching the sundial, Calem?"

"Touching it? Is that allowed?"

"I can trust you, Calem. The worst you would do to it is leave fingerprints."

Calem was sure he could do more damage if he really wanted to, but he was also sure that doing so just to prove the professor wrong would damage Serena's opinion of him. So he touched the sundial, and his Key Stone immediately reacted. A flash of light reflected from the sun, through the sundial, and off of the Key Stone…or maybe the sun had nothing to do with it.

"I'll be honest," Calem said after a moment of silence. "I did not think that was going to work."

"It might not have," Professor Sycamore confessed. "It was, after all, just a theory."

"Then I guess we should go Mega Stone hunting, huh?" Serena smiled at Calem, almost innocently. "Sounds like another adventure."

Calem twisted his hand around, trying to see if there was anything new about his Mega Ring. "It does," he agreed. He called Sylveon back into her ball and called Yveltal back out, promising Professor Sycamore that he'd stop by his lab the following afternoon if he found anything.

When Diantha arrived, she immediately knew exactly what had happened. "You made him touch the sundial, didn't you?"

"He wanted to be the test subject for my newest theory," Sycamore said defensively.

"I know. This is Calem we're talking about." She was quiet for a moment. "Do you think they'll find anything?"

"It's Calem and Serena. They're bound to find something. A better question would be if it's a Mega Stone or another sinister plot."

"And how much of Kalos will be left."

"That, too."

Conversation abandoned, they walked away from their meeting place together, discussing his research and her movies and trying hard not to think of the possibility that Lysandre was not the end of the young heroes' adventure.


	2. A Real Looker

**Don't worry, the visitors won't be main characters. They're just here for a joke or two in future chapters.**

Calem was hunting Mega Stones in Lumiose City only a few days later. His Key Stone had reacted to something, but he hadn't seen what it was before its timer had run out. So, when his Holo Caster went off, signaling a call, he thought it was his Mega Ring at first.

His second thought was that it was somebody from Team Flare, out for revenge for the time he and Serena had smashed through their base and possibly talked their boss into committing suicide, or at least destroyed the weapon.

But when he answered, hoping he didn't sound too nervous to the person on the other end, all he got was a strange symbol of a face and a man's voice.

"You are Calem Xavier, son of the famous Rhyhorn racer?"

"Who's asking?" Calem was sure that wasn't a confirmation. Well, pretty sure.

"I would like to tell you, but we cannot discuss it here. Come to the Looker Bureau in Lumiose City and you shall learn everything."

"Come to where?"

"You will find it near Rouge Plaza." There was a pause. "I can't say any more here. I hope to see you soon."

And the man switched off.

Calem still suspected that this was some form of ambush, but he had nothing to fear from an ambush. He had his Pokémon team to deal with threats like that – he could count only two important losses, neither of which he had used Yveltal for. If this man was trying to hurt him, all he had to do was show him the bird.

So, off to Rouge Plaza he went, this time having a vague idea of where he needed to go despite never having heard the words "Looker" and "Bureau" in a sentence like that.

He'd later come to the conclusion that until that day, he'd never heard the word "Bureau" more than five times in his entire life.

* * *

As it turned out, nobody knew where the Looker Bureau was. Even the helpful cab driver, the same man who had taken them to Lumiose Station when they couldn't find their own way, could only get him to Rouge Plaza before telling the kid that he was on his own. It took Calem sticking his head into every building in every alley before he saw something that told him he was in the right place.

Serena was already sitting in a chair, straight and still like an ancient princess (had she been in contact with AZ lately?) and watching a man in a brown trench coat stare at the floor and talk to himself.

"Uh," Calem said, "were you the one who called me?"

The man jumped right to attention, rushing at Calem and putting him in a headlock.

"Who are you, and who are you working for?"

Yeah, this was an ambush. "Calem Xavier," the soon-to-be Champion choked out, "and I work for myself! And occasionally Professor Sycamore."

The man immediately dropped him. "I apologize," he said as Calem fought off the shock that came from suddenly being unable to breathe more than the minimum requirement for speaking. "I wasn't sure if my call had reached the right person."

"I told him you might have slept through it," Serena admitted, looking slightly guilty.

"But," the man continued, "you were the ones who saved Kalos from Lysandre."

"Yeah, we were." Calem still wasn't happy about the headlock, but the guy didn't seem to be trying to take Yveltal from him.

"I only need 30 seconds of your time," the man continued. "30 minutes, maybe. I have investigated you both, and have discovered that Calem is the new Champion of the Kalos region."

"Not yet," Calem said, more than a little freaked out that this guy had information that he and Diantha planned to never release to the public at all. "The current Champion is waiting for me to get my Tyrunt to evolve, and that's a lot harder to accomplish when I'm not chasing down Team Flare or earning badges."

"But Diantha plans on handing you her title eventually," the man pointed out, and Calem went quiet again. He'd never mentioned the current Champion's identity, but this guy didn't look like he'd been to the Hall of Fame…

"You are here today because I had a suspicion that trouble would return to Lumiose City. It is a beautiful city, known all over the world…but when so many people gather, trouble often follows."

"What kind of trouble?" Serena asked.

"Troublesome trouble," the man explained. "Now, as the heroes of Kalos, you two are the only hope for a detective like me to uncover this trouble before it can trouble others. With my observation skills and your strength, we can bring peace to Lumiose City. Will you join me and fight crime?"

Calem's answer, of course, was "Been there, done that." But Serena gave her answer first, before he could even open his mouth.

"Of course I will, Looker," she promised. "It's an adventure, after all."

So, of course, Calem had to change his own answer to match. "It's a Champion's duty," he said, sort of reluctantly. "Diantha tried and failed to get involved with Team Flare. If I learn proper detective skills and don't get blinded by friendships and juggling multiple jobs, I might be able to do something."

"Excellent!" Looker handed them some papers. "Now, in order to train your detective skills, I must send you to detective school! Find these tickets and return to me!"

It didn't take long for them to wonder just what they had agreed to.

* * *

"It's just a scavenger hunt, right?" Serena asked as they walked through the Lumiose art museum, searching for one of the Looker Tickets that the detective had scattered around town. "How would a scavenger hunt teach us how to be detectives?"

"Maybe it's supposed to train us to be observant," Calem suggested. "You know, how you can spot an ad for a shoe sale in the newspaper when your dad's the one reading it."

"You know that fashion is an important part of my life," Serena reminded him, a little defensive. "I'm going to work with Valerie someday, I need all the experience I can get."

And, yes, that was her usual excuse for visiting every boutique in Kalos. The excuse used to be that she had modeling experience, but ever since she'd chosen the designer path, she'd decided to practice her drawing skills by planning her outfits on paper instead of in front of a mirror. And, of course, the more shopping (and selling of old stuff) she did, the more practice she'd get.

She'd also done it for Calem, more than once. He admitted to himself that having someone to make him look like a Champion would be awesome. Diantha had that winged jacket, after all, maybe Serena could make him a cape. The Kanto/Johto Champion had a cape, right? And one of the Hoenn guys?

Calem was still thinking about capes when Serena let out a triumphant screech that caused him to jump and everyone else in the museum to shush her. She didn't pay attention to any of them, and instead pulled out a slip of paper.

"I found it," she said when Calem got close enough to hear the whisper. Then she frowned at the writing. "It's either the Looker Ticket or a Pokemart receipt."

"It's both," Calem observed, taking it from her and flipping it over two or three times. "He made a 'ticket' on the back of a Pokemart receipt."

The note on the ticket explained that he had run out of paper and used the Pokemart receipt instead. He also added a challenge for them to see what he could be planning to do with what he bought (nothing but fifteen Repels and a pair of Espurr-sized earmuffs) but admitted that it might be intermediate detective work.

Calem checked the museum off the list. "Where to next?" he asked.

"The medicine shop," Serena decided at once. "It's the last one, and I wanted to check it out anyway."

"Is one of your Pokémon sick?"

"No. But Sylveon might be."

"She's not," Calem insisted. "The bucket thing was a freak accident."

"Of course it was," Serena said, in her placating voice, before turning to leave the museum, leaving Calem behind.

* * *

There was nothing interesting in the herbal medicine shop, except for the final Looker Ticket. Nearby, however, they found a place that sold evolution stones, and both of them were distracted from their search as they planned the extras for Calem's Champion team. They figured that Looker would simply fire them if he disapproved.

Of course, they were stopped in their tracks when they saw four people, each with a hairstyle more ridiculous than the last.

The brown-haired boy might have had normal hair, if he hadn't packed it all into a visor so that it stuck straight up off his head like the branches of a palm tree. The only girl of the group had enormous donuts trailing off into pigtails, Sailor Moon style. The other teenage boy had huge, spiky hair that made him look like a Qwilfish.

But their chaperone, a tall man with glasses and a lab coat who looked like he _really_ wanted to go home, won the contest without a doubt. Most of it was short, blond, and smoothed back, but there was an enormous swoosh of blue that circled his head.

Serena must have made a noise, because all four of them turned to look at the same moment. The girl stepped closer to Qwilfish-boy, almost like it was subconscious.

Calem was the first to speak. "Are you new here?" He was sure he would have recognized those hairstyles if he'd seen them before.

"Visitors," Palm Tree said, with the accent of a kid who grew up in Unova. "We're just looking to see if they were selling any Mega Stones for the Pokémon we already have before heading over to the Tower of Mastery."

"If we can trust this guy to not lead us into a trap," Qwilfish-boy added, giving his chaperone a pointed glare.

"Hugh!" the girl snapped, but the man stopped her.

"Let him have his opinion," he said. "It's not undeserved."

Calem pretended that he understood. "I was just wondering about your hair," he explained, "but I guess that can wait. How long are you all in town for?"

The girl shrugged. "For as long as the professors need us, I guess."

Serena looked up at the man, curious. "You're a professor? I thought the professors of Unova were a father-daughter team. You look too young to have a daughter old enough to be a professor." She squinted. "Unless she's a TV genius and got the job when she was, like, ten."

"I'm an independent researcher," he corrected her. "Partnered with Aurea Juniper and forced to babysit her friends in case they encounter a language barrier."

"We're _your_ friends, dude," Palm Tree reminded him, a point the man silently acknowledged.

"I'm not," Hugh added.

"Those who matter are," the researcher stated, as casually as if he were commenting on the weather, and looked nothing short of entertained as Hugh immediately threatened to 'unleash his rage' and 'hope for a Mega Samurott to Mega Razor Shell that stupid hair.'

The girl held Hugh back, but shot the man an annoyed glance of her own. "Do you think it's funny to do that in public?"

The man gestured toward Calem, who had broken down into silent laughter at the reaction to the mean remark. "He seems to think so."

"Colress! You promised Professor Juniper you wouldn't be such a huge…"

"Wait a minute," Serena said, cutting off whatever Donut Head was about to say. She pointed at the man. "You're Colress?"

He was instantly suspicious. "Why?"

"The same Colress who did experiments on the stones on Route 10?" Colress didn't answer that, which was all the confirmation she needed. "What did you do?"

"Things," Colress said quickly, and turned to his friends and their companion. "Rosa, Nate…other one. Pick a stone, we leave for Shalour City tomorrow."

"We stay," Rosa insisted. "I have the dragon. I decide when we fly it."

"Then we stay at Professor Sycamore's lab and help with his research. Though until you get Key Stones, we won't really have a purpose here."

"I'll battle one of you when you get the hang of Mega Evolution," Calem promised. "Send you home with more experience."

The thought of a battle made Rosa shrink back. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Do you do Musicals?" Calem asked.

"She's in the Unova region Hall of Fame," Hugh explained for her. "She doesn't want to annihilate a guy she just met."

"She won't," Calem promised. "I'm in the Kalos Hall of Fame, we'll be on equal standing."

"Cool." Rosa turned back to the stones, but Nate stopped her from looking.

"Champion vs. Champion battle," he said, almost begging. "For the movie?"

Rosa looked between Nate and Calem, then sighed. "Well, I guess it won't kill me. Or him. Why not?"

"Awesome." Calem started to give her his Holo Caster information, but when Rosa just stared at him in confusion, he stopped mid-sentence. "Or I could meet you guys at Sycamore's lab when I'm finished with my mission."

"Sycamore's lab would be great." Rosa sounded relieved. Then she turned to her travel partners. "Come on, guys. I guess they don't sell Mega Stones here."

Then she herded her friends out the door like a Stoutland in charge of a group of Tauros.

Once they were safely gone, Serena looked at Calem suspiciously. "You think they're the trouble that Looker was talking about?"

"Without a doubt," Calem answered immediately. Then he held out the three Looker Tickets he had found. "You've got two, I've got three. We finished the scavenger hunt. Let's go report it to headquarters."

* * *

Looker didn't mind that they took a detour. Instead, he just counted the tickets and told them that they had passed his class and were now full detectives.

"Although I hope you can save challenging tourists to battle for when you're off the clock," he said, giving Calem a pointed look.

Calem smiled nervously. "Fair enough."

"In his defense, she decided to wait until they were done with their research," Serena cut in. "And new people showing up in Lumiose City right after you mentioned that you were sensing trouble is kind of suspicious."

"Aurea Juniper is mostly trustworthy," Looker pointed out. "Her Pokedex carriers have saved Unova twice. This more than likely does not concern them." When Calem looked disappointed, he decided to give the kid a break. "But I will take a note, in case you are right."

They allowed that. "So what do you think is going on?" Calem asked.

"I am still on the lookout for the full explanation myself," Looker explained. "We will continue our search for clues together. You have my permission to examine my notes, and we will begin our partnership once you have finished."

Calem sat down at Looker's desk, Serena hovering over his shoulder.

"And you have 30 seconds," Looker added.

The only other sound was the quick ruffling of paper as two teenagers sped through the notes like their lives depended on it.


	3. In the Back Alleys

**Never underestimate what shipping can do.**

"Your first mission," Looker told them when they had finished reading, "is to find out why the children of Lumiose City have been spending so much time in the alleys."

"Maybe they got lost," Serena suggested. "I get lost in this city all the time, and let's not get into the fact that Calem and I are spending a lot of time in the alleys to help you with the case."

"But the children who have lived in Lumiose for their whole lives?"

Serena shrugged. "Still possible."

"So what do you want us to do about it?" Calem asked. "We're not kids, Looker."

"But you are not adults, either," Looker pointed out. "You are seventeen, correct? You are young enough to join the children in whatever it is that they are doing, and old enough to report your findings to the proper authority."

"You mean you," Calem said, trying to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

"Precisely. You will investigate the alleys to find out what the kids of Lumiose are up to. Do you think you can?"

"Probably. But aren't you concerned at ALL that the Unova kids…"

"They were not in Kalos at the time the reports began," Looker reminded him.

"But you'll look into it?"

"Perhaps."

That was as good as Calem was going to get.

* * *

"I know Looker said we should trust his gut," Serena said, glaring down the long stretch of road that was South Boulevard, "but your gut told you that Rosa and her friends were the ones we were looking for, and he refused to listen to you."

"He said that his gut was more boiled, or something." Calem stuffed his hands in his pockets, mimicking his friend's expression.

"But that doesn't mean he's right!" Serena gestured down the road. "You're in the Hall of Fame! He should be taking you more seriously!"

"Looks like you're the only one who thinks so."

Serena almost replied to that, but the sight of another alley stopped her. She followed Calem quietly, and he heard her quiet "huh" when they found several kids lined up against the walls, each of them armed with Pokeballs. He could tell without asking that she was actually impressed that Looker had been right.

The one closest to them turned her head. "You can't come in!" she snapped. "You're grown-ups! Grown-ups aren't allowed in our secret base!"

"We're not grown-ups," Calem insisted. "We're teenagers. Technically not grown-ups."

She didn't stand down. "How old are you?"

"Seventeen."

"How long have you been seventeen?"

"Do we really need to do this?" Calem whined. "Look, we just want to know if we're too old to join your club!"

"We do have teenagers in the club already," the only boy of the group confessed. "Maybe they're young enough…"

"But they're ALMOST grown-ups," another little girl insisted.

An older girl looked over the intruders carefully. "We'll let them in," she decided, "but they have to beat all of us, first."

"One at a time," Serena decided. "I don't think this alley can hold all of us and all of our Pokémon at once."

"Deal."

The first little girl looked up at Serena, a challenge in her eyes. "I get the first battle with you," she announced. "I'm really strong!"

Serena restrained herself from making a comment, and instead gave the child her brightest smile. "Then we'll just see who's stronger, won't we?"

* * *

As soon as Calem and Serena had won the last battle, Looker decided to make his appearance. He seemed to ignore all four of the kids glaring at his new partners, but Calem ran with it.

"You see why we wanted to join your club?" he asked them, gesturing at Looker. "This guy's been following us for who knows how long, and I just want to ditch him!"

Before anyone else could comment, a loud shriek of some kind distracted them. Calem and Serena stopped to listen, thinking it over.

"Was that an Espurr?" Serena asked uncertainly.

"It seems so." Looker turned back to Calem and Serena. "We should go and investigate! It came from deeper in the alley!"

"Let's not," Calem tried to protest, but he was ignored as the other two started down the path. Figuring it was best to follow them and prepare the legendary for extra intimidation purposes, he trailed after them, watching for anything unusual, one hand on his Master Ball just in case.

They'd made it only five steps when an Espurr rushed out, fixing them with its wide, unblinking eyes. It did not look friendly.

"This Espurr must consider this alley its territory," Looker suggested, and Calem felt a flash of irritation at Detective Obvious.

"You're right, old man," a voice said from behind the alley. The girl it belonged to was not as dirty as AZ, but came close, and reached down to pet the Espurr right between the ears. "Mimi doesn't like intruders."

"You named it Mimi?" Calem asked.

"Your Chesnaught is named Eddie," Serena reminded him. "You're in no position to question it."

"Do you mind returning Mimi to the Pokeball?" Looker asked. "We have questions that we need to ask you."

"Mimi doesn't have a Pokeball," the girl explained, even as Mimi leaned against her leg, still staring at the intruders. "I'm not a trainer. I don't have the money to buy Pokeballs."

"Then take Mimi for protection and search random routes," Serena offered. "People drop items all the time, and leave them to let beginning trainers pick them up. If you explain yourself, you don't need a Pokedex. Pick up a Pokeball, catch Mimi, and battle to earn yourself some money. It won't make you rich, but it'll buy you some burgers and Pokémon food."

"I don't like to leave Lumiose City if I can help it."

"Then I suppose Mimi can stay." Looker gestured to the children. "What are they doing here?"

"Playing," Mimi's friend answered immediately. "We're all friends here. Do you want to join?"

"No!" one of the little girls screamed. "This is our base! No grown-ups allowed, remember?"

"We already told you, Serena and I aren't grown-ups." Calem knew it was useless when he said it, and the girl replied by sticking out her tongue.

"You lied! You probably aren't seventeen at all!"

"Hey," Mimi's friend interrupted. "We should give them a chance, right? If these two are seventeen, they're not that much older than I am. And as for this guy, would you like it if you were stopped from doing something because you're too old for it?"

The little girl shut up.

"So why did you choose the alleys to play?" Looker asked. "It's so dark in here."

"Mimi and I live here."

"What about your family?"

"They're gone. Mimi is my family."

There was an awkward silence.

"So everybody just left you on the streets?" Serena finally asked, her voice quiet.

Of course Serena was the one to speak first. She was open about the fact that she was adopted herself - a pale-skinned blonde with a much darker father is a rare sight otherwise. She was probably thinking that she could have been in the same situation.

"More like nobody could catch me." The girl shrugged. "Is there a point to this?"

"I do have a solution to your problem," Looker finally said. "You can live in my office, and it will provide shelter for you and for Mimi. In exchange, you will work as my assistant. I myself live in a hotel, so you will have privacy."

The girl looked surprised. "I don't know…"

Mimi's own response was to scream and run away.

"It looks like Mimi's scared," the girl explained. "It happens sometimes. That's why we don't let grown-ups in our hideout. And that's why I can't go and live in your office."

"I see," Looker said carefully. Then he looked back at the heroes. "Calem! Serena! Your next mission is to befriend Mimi. You are not quite grown-ups yourselves, and Mimi might trust you."

"She likes the Galette Stand," the girl added. "Sometimes they let their guard down and she steals some."

"Galette Stand?" Calem turned around to head out of the alley. "I think I've seen it before."

But as he and Serena left to start their search, she heard him say, "When we were hired by a secret agent, I was hoping it would be more like James Bond."

Serena just smiled innocently. "Well, Calem. I think we can both agree that Link _absolutely_ had to deal with this."

* * *

Mimi ran when Calem and Serena cornered her. When Looker passed them the message that she also liked to wander by Lumiose Station, they were more careful.

When Mimi heard footsteps in the second alley, they were much lighter than normal human footsteps. Calem and Serena had sent their Fairy-types in to make their point for them.

And fortunately for everyone, Mawile was put in charge of the negotiations. **"You don't like humans, huh?"**

 **"Not a lot,"** Mimi answered, giving Mawile the blank stare that the species was famous for. **"People have reputations for using Pokémon to do bad things. Team Rocket, Team Galactic, Team Flare…"**

 **"That's still not a lot of people, compared to how many humans are living on earth right now,"** Mawile pointed out, **"especially since there's only been about five of those groups in the last ten years."**

 **"You watch human news?"**

 **"Serena's parents do. I learn stuff from hanging around the house."**

 **"But why don't you like Calem and Serena?"** Sylveon asked. **"They're the ones who used the power of shipping to stop Lysandre from blowing up the planet."**

 **"It makes sense in context,"** Mawile said immediately.

 **"Really?"** Mimi's question was almost hopeful, and Mawile responded by waving a hand.

 **"A little bit, but not much."**

 **"Will I ever get the context, then?"**

 **"If you come with us."**

Looker and the kids watched as three Pokémon left the alley together, Sylveon telling the story of Team Flare's base as Mawile kept her on track. When they finally made it to the humans, Mimi looked up at Calem and Serena as if they were a pair of enormous Pokepuffs, and let Serena pet her.

Looker didn't want to know how they had done it. All he cared about was that the girl and her Pokémon friend finally had a place to call home. Calem felt pretty good about that, too.

He also felt pretty good about passing his first mission as one of Looker's new partners.


	4. Detective, Tourist, Gang

**EDITOR'S NOTE: "I came up with the 'Everyone is bilingual and they speak real-world languages' headcanon while playing the language missions in Festival Plaza. Most people only know two, but Looker learned so many languages he somehow messes up in all of them."**

Their next mission came a few days later. By the time Calem and Serena arrived back at Looker's office, Mimi and her human (who they had learned was named Emma) were nowhere to be found, despite working for Looker now.

"Emma is slightly stressed," Looker explained. "I gave her the day off so she can play with her friends in the alley, as long as she returns by the time I return to my hotel."

Serena looked ready to protest, but that was when a tourist burst through the door. It wasn't Rosa, or any of her friends. It was a woman, looking scared and angry, and speaking quick, confusing Japanese.

All three of them watched her, and not a single one of them moved. "I only know English and French," Calem hissed to Serena.

"Same," she agreed quietly, watching as the woman slowed down.

"Wouldn't she realize that we're all confused here? Don't they teach second languages in school, or have tourist translators in case people encounter a language barrier anyway?"

"Maybe she does speak English or French, and just reverted to Japanese because she…forgot?" Serena's suggestion was too hopeful for her to actually believe it.

Then, before they could ask, Looker started to talk. The fact that Calem and Serena could still understand him was not quite reassuring. "You are one of our fair city's famous tourists! I can tell that you have traveled far. I am Looker. What may I do for you?"

The woman seemed to understand enough, but she spoke Japanese again. Looker nodded along, seeming to understand what she was saying, which relieved his partners. Then he looked back at them, and again spoke in one of the languages that they understood. "From what I can gather, this woman has been given a great offense."

The saviors of Kalos both shut up. "Looker speaks Japanese?" Serena asked, confused.

"Of course!" Looker was proud of himself. "Japanese, Italian, English, French…I am a master of language! And this lady is offended because she came here as a guest and has not been given tea!"

They weren't sure why tea would get somebody that worked up, but Looker quickly excused himself from the conversation as he rushed out to get tea, leaving Calem and Serena alone with a strange woman and a language barrier.

"Mr. Looker! We're home!"

Emma held the door open for Mimi, who was holding a probably-stolen Lumiose Galette in her paw and munching away. When she saw Calem and Serena, she squealed in happiness and held the Galette out for them to share.

"No, thank you," Serena said quickly, and when Calem turned it down, Mimi just broke off a piece and gave it to Emma. Emma accepted it, and then noticed the woman.

"Um…hi?"

The woman started speaking again. Calem and Serena watched in amazement as Emma listened to her, and her eyes went wide.

"Oh," she said, her voice quiet. Then she asked something, speaking what appeared to be passing Japanese.

"What." It wasn't even a question, but it was the only thing Calem could say at that point. He learned a second language in school, like everybody else, and here was a street orphan from Kalos having a two-sided conversation in Japanese. A street orphan that had told Looker that she could barely read.

That is when Emma looked down at Mimi. "Calem and Serena look a little lost," she said.

 **"Understatement,"** Mimi agreed, before finishing off her snack.

"So why don't you use your psychic powers?"

Mimi's ears unfolded just a little bit, and suddenly, Calem and Serena could actually hear the thoughts in the woman's head.

And the first thing out of Calem's mouth?

"So it wasn't about the tea."

"Tea?" Emma looked at Calem in confusion. "This woman had her Pokémon stolen, and you thought it was about tea?"

"Looker can't speak Japanese," Serena explained, leaving Emma and Mimi even more confused.

The woman thought rude things about Looker, but quickly attempted to take them back. Then they heard Emma's annoyance at the woman, but her concern for the Pokémon won.

The telepathy continued to let the woman tell the story. She was walking through the train station when a man came up behind her and stole her bag. Calem immediately thought of Colress or Hugh, triggering Serena's irritation when Mimi passed that thought along to the rest of them. But the woman didn't seem to recognize their hair, which crossed them both off the suspect list. Emma had a different idea…

The sound of the door opening startled Mimi into calling off the telepathy. Looker didn't seem to notice at first as he placed a box of tea on his desk.

"I have returned!" he announced. Then he fully processed the situation in front of him. "And it seems that Emma and Mimi have returned as well! Excellent! Emma, have you introduced yourself to our foreign friend here?"

"Tea, Looker?" Emma said, clearly annoyed.

"I take that as a yes." Looker immediately started heating water for the tea. "Would you like to join us?"

Mimi wandered over to Looker, and though the psychic link was gone, Calem and Serena could still feel the small Espurr's annoyance.

"This woman says her Pokémon were stolen," Emma translated. "Not that she wanted tea. If the thieves are still in Lumiose Station…"

"Stolen Pokémon? Why didn't you say so? We must go and find them at once!"

"But what if the thieves are the Lumiose Gang?" Emma asked. "They're really tough!"

"Tough or not," Looker said, "this woman came to us for help, and we shall give her the help she requested."

And he ran off before anyone could catch him. Five pairs of eyes watched the door close, and then Serena sighed.

"We're going to have to chase him down, aren't we?"

"Would you?" Emma looked hopeful. "He doesn't have any Pokémon himself…I'd go, but Mimi isn't used to battling and I still haven't captured her…"

"We're on it." Calem really didn't want to do this, but he had no choice. "Serena, come with me. Everyone else, enjoy the tea."

"Save me a cup!" Serena called, and she followed Calem into the streets of Lumiose City.

* * *

They took another cab ride to Lumiose Station. It seemed to be the easiest method, and the fastest.

So, when they arrived, they saw that Looker was talking to a group of punk-looking people that they assumed to be the gang. Neither of them were surprised.

"I actually expected them to be stealing his money by now," Serena said casually.

Calem didn't even blink. "Or scamming, he seems like an easy scam target."

"You called backup?" one of the punks said, glaring down at Calem and Serena as Looker realized that they were there. "Here I thought you were trying to be tough."

"I am not trying to be tough," Looker insisted. "I am here to demand that you return that tourist's stolen Pokémon!"

"We ain't giving nothing back," another punk said. "If we went around givin' everything back just for askin' nicely, we wouldn't get anything done."

"And that's a bad thing?" Calem asked.

"You stay out of this!" the third punk snapped. "We know you, old man. You're that Looker that's been messin' around in all that Team Whatever garbage. You think we're just gonna let you stay here and boss us around?"

"Then you better think again!" the first punk announced, proudly pounding his chest. "We take orders from no one but ourselves!"

Calem could see where this was heading. "Go back to the office, Looker," he told him. "Serena and I can take these people on."

"Who are you?" the first punk asked.

The second punk squinted. "They look kinda familiar," she admitted. "Don't know where I've seen 'em before, though."

"Where you've seen us isn't important." Serena already had a Pokeball in her hand, preparing to throw it at the first sign of trouble. "What's important is that we know how to deal with people like you."

"You think you can stop us?" The third punk picked up a Pokeball of her own. "Fine! Just give it your best shot!"

And she sent out a Mandibuzz. Serena called Mawile, and used Play Rough to take down the Mandibuzz in one shot. Calem laughed, but that only got the attention of the second punk girl, who called a Pangoro.

Calem wondered if Yveltal would fit in this cramped space. Then he decided that there was only one way to find out.

* * *

Yveltal, it turned out, could only fit in the station when its wings and tail were all much closer to its body than it considered comfortable. Fortunately, it didn't have to move, since the punks were immediately and properly terrified of the simple fact that the local death god was under their opponent's control. The remaining punks immediately surrendered.

"That's no fun," Calem complained, though the look on his face said otherwise. "They didn't even try to put up a fight."

"It looked like the smart thing to do," the male punk insisted. "We didn't want to go up against that thing."

"So does that mean you'll give up the stolen Pokémon?" Serena asked.

"No! This kid cheated! He gets nothing!"

" _You_ cheated!" Emma's voice interrupted. "You said you would give the Pokémon back if they beat you in battle!"

"What do you care?" the punk snapped back. "You ditched this gang!"

"Because you're stupid thieves who steal for stupid reasons!" Emma snapped right back. "Now give Looker those Pokémon, or I'll be forced to Do The Thing!

"Not The Thing!" one of the punk girls screamed.

"We'll give ya back the Pokeballs," the guy said quickly.

"And apologize to Looker and the tourist lady?" Emma asked pointedly, narrowing her eyes in a threat.

"Whatever you say, ma'am." He led the two female punks away, all of them looking horrified. "Just...don't Do The Thing."

"Wait," Looker said. All of them turned around. "If you wish to be friends with Emma, then I may have a job for you. I cannot forgive evil intentions lightly, but if you swear to never again lift a hand in cruelty, then you may visit Emma in her new home at the Looker Bureau."

Calem and Serena were both too shocked to speak.

"You're letting them go free just because they're my friends?" Emma asked.

"As long as they promise to be on the side of good from now on," Looker clarified.

They saw no reason not to just accept it and move on.

As they were on the way back to the Looker Bureau, however, Serena leaned over to ask Emma something. "What was The Thing that you threatened to do?"

Emma smiled, faking innocence. "You tell me."

* * *

"…so I was never in the gang for real," Emma finished, once the tourist was gone. "I just fought them and won, so they put me in charge."

"She's crazy strong," the male punk added. "We wanted someone like her to get us out of trouble."

"Looks like that succeeded," Calem said, trying not to let his confusion over the whole incident show.

He could understand that Emma had been named leader of a street gang. He could understand that she had let them decide what The Thing meant for themselves. He could even understand that Looker had given a bunch of delinquents a pass to walk around being a gang of good guys.

But he could not understand why Looker claimed to know Japanese when he clearly did not, or why he had immediately run off to get the tourist's Pokémon back when Emma had said that he had no Pokémon himself.

There had to be some logic in there, somewhere. He just didn't know where.

"So," Emma said as the punk left, "about my assistant position. I haven't been assisting anything, just watching you work."

"Learning is important," Looker insisted. "And you are doing a lot of learning in a short time."

"But I thought you were giving me an actual job."

"And I will. But you must first learn how to do the job, if you are going to be hired permanently."

"But Mr. Looker…"

"There is no need to worry. I have savings to keep you fed and sheltered. Your job for the moment is to look after the office and to keep learning."

He allowed Calem and Serena to go home for the night, and left for his hotel soon after. None of them noticed that Emma and Mimi didn't seem entirely convinced by his words.


	5. An Unforgivable Crime

****Yes, we did reference the ending song from Portal 2.****

Serena had come up with a few new outfit suggestions for Emma. Her logic was that now that Emma was no longer on the streets, she should look like a girl with a home. This led to talking her friend into checking all the major boutiques in Kalos for something similar to her ideas.

Calem, being a teenage boy, was bored by the whole shopping experience. It wasn't a fate worse than death, but he had his mother and Serena to make sure he didn't dress as badly as a Team Flare grunt, so Serena was the only reason he would ever go back.

Besides, why hate the experience when you could stack hats on the heads of your Pokémon partners? He knew by the third stop that Eddie could wear the most hats, stacking 13 before the pile fell off, and Pyroar the least at one hat, which promptly incinerated on his mane and Calem was forced to pay for it. Sylveon came in second-to-last, where they discovered that putting on a second hat caused the first to fall over her eyes, which made her panic and crash into a pile of shirts, while silver-medal Scizor stacked 9 before deciding the whole thing was stupid and retreating to his ball.

It was as Calem was putting the third hat on Trevenant, already having reached the conclusion that typical stacking was impossible and just hanging hats on Trevenant's branches, that Serena finally put her mini-sketchbook back in her bag.

"I think I've located just about everything," she said, deliberately ignoring the fact that her friend's Trevenant was currently being decorated like a Christmas tree. "Now I just have to go and ask Emma to come along so I can learn her size. I'll be paying, obviously."

"Where did you get the money?" Calem asked, getting a confused look. "Looker doesn't pay us."

"I've been selling my old stuff online," Serena reminded him. "I have money."

"Enough to cover a whole new outfit?"

"And prize money from battles."

"Good enough." Calem put the hats away and called Trevenant back to his ball, before heading outside and summoning Yveltal once again.

* * *

Emma wasn't in the office when they returned to Lumiose City. Looker himself seemed a little concerned with that fact, as if he hadn't given her the day off to play with her alley friends before.

"She's been going off on her own," he explained when they asked. "And she has been doing it often enough that it is starting to become worrying. It doesn't even look as though she came back here last night."

"Maybe she went back to the gang," Calem suggested.

"Her friends from the gang are all redeeming themselves around town. They have not seen her."

They were thinking it over, but before they came to a conclusion, all three Holo Casters went off, telling them that there was a clip that needed their attention.

When they turned it on, Calem and Serena recognized Malva, the Elite Four member that Champion Diantha was almost ready to fire by the time they left the Pokémon League building.

"Attention Holo Caster owners," she said, her professional tone not at all like the half-bored, half-irritated voice she had used when Calem had challenged her. "A painting in the Lumiose Museum has been vandalized. Museum staff reports that the museum's security is very tight, and breaking in is impossible. The suspect remains at large. Be on your guard – we don't know where the vandal will strike next."

The message ended. Calem, Serena and Looker all turned off their Holo Casters, and Looker straightened his coat.

"Emma's whereabouts are something to be concerned about later," he decided. "She's lived this long on the streets, I suppose she can handle herself for a few more hours. I have a meeting here soon that I cannot miss, but the two of you can begin the investigation without me."

"And we'll check the Pokémon Centers for any sign of Emma," Serena announced. "Maybe Mimi got hurt. Pokémon Centers are free, right?"

"Wouldn't Mimi need a Pokeball, though?" Calem asked.

Serena rolled her eyes. "I think Emma's outfit could explain her situation, Calem."

"And I will buy a Pokeball for Mimi," Looker promised. "The next time I see them. Now begin! The scene of the crime may lose important evidence!"

As soon as the door to the building closed behind them, Calem looked at his friend pointedly. "We should start demanding money," he decided.

"Agreed." Serena turned and headed off in the direction that they believed the Lumiose Museum was in.

* * *

"It kind of looked like Harry Potter fanart."

Calem was trying to drink when Serena spoke, and immediately regretted it when the bottle of water he'd been attempting to drink from was squeezed too hard, sending some of its contents right up his nose. Looking back, he could kind of see it – the vandal hadn't painted anything they understood, but instead what looked like a lightning bolt with two round circles, almost touching, layered on top of it. He had to admit, she had a point.

"But why would someone do that, when they could put their fanart on the internet?" She didn't seem to notice that he was dripping, too focused on the current mission.

"Why didn't you tell that to the museum director?" Calem asked when he had cleaned himself off as much as possible. There wasn't much he could do for the wet spot on his jacket.

"He looked like he had enough on his mind." She finally turned around, and facepalmed when she saw him attempt to fan himself to get the water to evaporate faster. "We'll stop at a Pokémon Center for you to change," she ordered. "I wanted to look for Emma there, anyway."

They were close enough to one that Calem agreed.

Once inside, they found four vaguely familiar people. They might have been any regular tourists, if not for their hair. Serena ordered Calem to change his shirt as she walked up to his prime suspects.

"You're Rosa and friends, aren't you?"

The girl looked up. "Yes," she said, slightly confused. She must have forgotten everything. "I'm sorry, but…do I know you?"

"Not particularly," Serena said with a smile, "but you did agree to battle my friend when you were done with Professor Sycamore's mission. A Champion from Unova against a Champion from Kalos."

Recognition flashed in Rosa's eyes. "Oh! Right, that." She looked around at her friends, and seemed slightly relieved that none of them was encouraging her to battle the guy right now. "We're still on a mission. We're trying to get Hugh a Pokémon that can Mega Evolve, and I'm looking for a Mega Stone for Ampharos or Altaria."

"You have Key Stones, then?"

"What's it to you?" Hugh demanded. "You're one of Professor Sycamore's Pokedex carriers, aren't you? Why aren't you doing this for him?"

"Hey!" Calem returned before Hugh could say anything more than that, and instantly jumped to Serena's defense. "You're one of Professor Juniper's Pokedex carriers, aren't you? Why aren't you helping her in her lab?"

"This counts, apparently."

"Drop it, Hugh," Nate and Rosa said together. Hugh shot Nate an irritated glance, but was perfectly willing to listen to Rosa.

Colress did not have anything to say about the current mission he was supervising. Instead, he was looking up at the television on the Pokémon Center wall, focused on the news.

As if she was surprised that something could take his attention off a research project, Rosa followed his lead, and the other four followed _her_ lead. And when they finally heard what it was that made the news…

"Someone's using a robot suit to steal Pokémon?" Calem asked the air.

"Fascinating, isn't it?" The three Unova teens turned to look at Colress in one motion, Hugh in anger, Nate in disbelief, and Rosa in pure hurt. Colress chose that moment to pay full attention to his surroundings, and promptly defended himself. " _I_ didn't do it. But the reports said that the thief was waiting until after a battle, where the trainers can't fight back. I was merely thinking that if Team Plasma had been a bit smarter, they could have used that method, instead of simply demanding that everyone free their Pokémon and expecting them to comply."

"Do you wish Team Plasma had been smarter, Colress?" Rosa even cracked her voice a bit on that one. Calem could tell it was faked by the way Nate gave her a thumbs-up behind the scientist's back.

"And erase months of fun? Not even I would be willing to insult Ghetsis to his face if he were the tiniest bit more intelligent."

"But if Team Plasma was smarter, there wouldn't be any gorgeous science babies," Nate said, one hand on a video camera as if wanting to turn it on.

Colress refused to give him the satisfaction. Instead, he turned his attention to Calem and Serena. "This sounds like a problem. Should I try talking Rosa into getting involved?"

With the Team Plasma talk, Calem was sure that Colress had been one of them. And it wouldn't surprise him if he was lying about his lack of involvement. He could have lied to these kids, and to Professor Juniper, and to Professor Sycamore, and to the Mega Evolution Guru, but he would not lie to Calem.

We'll get to the bottom of this," he promised. "And we have ways of uncovering even the most airtight frame jobs."

"Excellent." Colress didn't change his expression at all. "I can't report back to Professor Juniper if her hand-picked ambassadors are missing some important partners."

The obviousness of the statement did nothing to calm Calem. Fortunately for the visitors, Serena called him away before he could do anything.

"You'll battle Rosa later," she pointed out. "And when you do, I'll take on Colress for you."

"You will?"

"If it'll make you feel better."

He wrapped one arm around her shoulders to pull her closer to him as they walked, not caring about the 'What a cute couple' looks it got them. "You're the best, Rini."

From the look on her face, he could tell she knew that it was just an excuse to annoy her. But she didn't seem to mind.

* * *

They returned to Looker's office at once, ready to ask him if he had seen the news. As soon as they arrived, he beat them to it, asking them the same question.

"We have," Calem said quickly, "and once again, we ran into Professor Juniper's army."

"They're not an army, Calem," Serena pointed out. He was starting to get the feeling that she was getting tired of his accusations. "Professor Juniper sent them on a research mission, to get Professor Sycamore more Mega Evolution data."

"And can we trust her?"

"Didn't Looker tell you that Juniper's Pokedex carriers saved Unova _twice?_ " She didn't let him answer that, instead focusing on Looker. "Has Emma come back yet?"

"No. But I suppose, in our pursuit of justice, we must accept that if she has survived on her own for this long, she must still be capable of looking after herself. Have you closed the museum case?"

"Not at all," Serena replied, slightly annoyed at herself. "What about Emma's gang friends? Maybe they know somebody who would do this?"

"I have spoken to all of them. They have explained their own innocence thoroughly, but have yet to come forward with any names of likely suspects."

"So what should we do?" Calem asked. "Are you going to investigate the museum now? You've had more practice with this detective thing."

"We will solve the vandalism eventually," Looker promised, "but we must act quickly to deal with the stolen Pokémon. Perhaps…yes, a sting operation! You have heard of such a thing, yes?"

"Yes," the trainers said together.

"Excellent! If we go into the alley, where there are likely few witnesses, perhaps we can bait a trap for the culprit."

"And what if we get targeted?"

"A Champion and the girl who defeated Lysandre?" Looker didn't seem to consider the possibility. "One of you can surely step in to protect the other."

"I'll be the bait," Serena decided. She looked over at Calem, determination written all over her face. "We'll need to protect Yveltal, and I have no legendary. We can do this."

"Right."

He knew that she had a point. She was entirely capable of standing up to a madman on her own, and Yveltal would make the most obvious target. Still, some part of his brain suggested being the bait himself, exchanging Yveltal for the slightly-undertrained Tyrunt he had left with his mother and her Rhyhorn.

He shut that thought down quickly. Serena would be fine. It was her opponents he should really be worried about.

* * *

Even though it was her idea, Serena was clearly having second thoughts as she prepared to wander down a dark alley alone.

"We've got your back," Calem promised. "Looker's waiting to arrest anyone who gets too close to you, and I'll be with him in the lookout spot, ready to back him up."

Realizing that it was as close as she was going to get for reassurance, Serena walked into the alley, her Pokémon all in their balls as she realized it would be best for her opponent to not realize how strong she was.

And she immediately saw her opponent. It was a woman, standing in the alley like a serial killer waiting for her next victim. It was very real fear that Serena felt, and she could barely find the words to say.

"I'm sorry," she said with a forced smile. "I guess I must have taken a wrong turn. I was looking for a Pokémon Center."

The woman tilted her head, continuing to stare at a point just behind Serena's shoulder. "Are your Pokémon hurt?"

"Not hurt," Serena said quickly. "Just a little tired after coming back to Lumiose from Laverre."

"Can they still battle?"

"Of course they can!"

"Well, then?" The woman picked out a Pokeball. "Let's battle!"

And she sent out a Jellicent. Serena allowed herself a moment of panic before calling out her Gourgeist.

When the battle was over and Serena stood victorious, the woman seemed to become more unstable. "What strong Pokémon you have," she said, impressed. "Would you consider…giving them to me?"

The woman's image vanished, leaving behind what seemed to be a robot. Calem and Looker ran out from their hiding place, Calem holding Eddie's ball, and the robot woman stopped.

"OBSTRUCTION DETECTED. MISSION COMPROMISED. ABORT!"

They all expected it to self-destruct. Instead, it jumped onto a roof like a movie ninja and ran away, like its programmer called it back.

"Unusual," Looker commented.

"I know!" Calem gestured to the roof. "Who knew Power Rangers were evil now?"

Looker ignored him. "Serena," he said, "I know you do not wish to repeat this experience, but I'm afraid you must. As long as the culprit is at large, we must track her down."

"I understand."

"Excellent! Now, allow me to heal your Pokémon, and you may go and examine other alleys! Calem, accompany her on her mission and protect her from having her Pokémon taken. I shall stay here and look for clues!"

* * *

After another alley, another encounter with the Robot Thief, and another failed arrest attempt, Serena was starting to get sick of it.

"Trade with me," she told Calem. "I'll keep Yveltal safe. You take Pangoro instead."

"Serena," Looker scolded. "You are the perfect candidate. They might have Calem's Hall of Fame entry in their database. You have not defeated him, or Diantha."

"I fought Diantha in a dream once!" Serena protested.

Calem firmly believed that fighting her to win the professor from her was not the same as fighting her for the title of Champion. He didn't say anything, despite the annoyance that tended to pop up whenever she talked about her vaguely Sycamore-related dreams, as Looker had already started to speak again.

"One more alley," he said, "and then you may convince Calem to be the bait, if we have not captured her by then. But he will trade Yveltal for Tyrunt first."

"Fine."

When she went to the darkest alley around North Boulevard, waiting until she got the call from Looker before going in, she was much more irritated than she was scared. On the one hand, she would channel that anger into battle, which might get her Pokémon angry enough to put more power behind their attacks. On the other, she was much less convincing in her 'lost and confused' act.

But she didn't need to be angry. The robot woman was nowhere to be found, and she instead found one of her victims. Calem and Looker came out of hiding when they were sure that he wasn't another disguise, and the man explained that he had been training when she had challenged him to a battle and stolen his Pokémon.

"I'll never trust a pretty girl again," he swore, and it suddenly made sense why he was speaking to Calem and Looker while ignoring Serena.

"You'll get over it," Calem promised. He gestured toward Serena. "Especially since that one is helping us track down the thief."

"Aww," Serena cooed, putting on her most over-the-top flirty expression. "You think I'm pretty?"

"Something had to make me put up with you for an entire journey," Calem teased right back.

"Where did she go?" Looker asked, ignoring the conversation between his young partners.

"She took off in the direction of South Boulevard," the man explained, "but I can't be sure that's where she stopped."

"So we will go back there," Looker announced. "Calem, Serena. You remember where we met Emma and Mimi, don't you?"

"We do."

"Then we will meet there! You go and investigate, I will stay here to collect as much information as possible."

Serena started to object, but Calem stopped her. "I'll be there," he promised. "I'll have a full team to defend you."

Serena couldn't object to that. "You owe me for this."

* * *

Serena didn't wait for Looker this time. She told Calem to stay just out of the woman's sight and charged right in, prepared to send out Gourgeist or Juliet at the first sign of danger.

The woman recognized her. "So, here you are again."

"It's always _such_ a pleasure," Serena replied, not hesitating, and Calem almost laughed. "Remember when you tried to rob me twice?"

"I do," said the woman, not continuing the reference. "Since you know what I want, why don't we just start the battle again?"

"You already failed to defeat me," Serena pointed out. "What makes you think that you'll have any more luck now?"

"Because I have more experience now."

"So you stole from one other person," Serena pointed out. "Big deal. He let his guard down because you put on a pretty face. I'm not as easily distracted."

"Not even by a good-looking male face?"

"No," Serena insisted, hoping that whatever was behind the mask didn't have a lie detector built in. The last thing she needed was for a shape-shifting Pokémon thief to turn into some tall man with dark hair and…

She refused to think any more. If this thing could read minds, too, she was a goner already.

The thief didn't change form, or continue the conversation. She merely sent out a Persian and prepared for battle. When Serena's Pangoro took down the Persian in one hit, she returned to her true form.

"GIVE ME EVERY POKEBALL YOU OWN." The command was loud and droning, but Serena had heard the voice often enough that she didn't even flinch. "COOPERATE OR I WILL TAKE THEM BY FORCE."

"You and what army?" It was childish, but Serena wasn't really in the best mood at the moment.

"YOU SHOULD BE ASKING IF YOU HAVE THE NECESSARY FORCE TO STOP ME."

"She does," Calem announced as he and Looker arrived once again. "And from the way you replied to that, it sounds like you're being controlled by someone. So who's behind the android?"

"PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE HUMAN USING THE SUIT FOR CRIMINAL ACTIVITY."

"But you attempted to hurt my partner," Looker pointed out, "and stole from those you did not physically harm."

"SILENCE. I WILL ERADICATE YOU AND ALL THAT YOU LOVE."

A loud scream came from out of nowhere, as Mimi the Espurr ran into the alley. She stood in front of Serena protectively, but stared at the robot with the exact same hurt expression that Rosa had given her supervisor when he had shown interest in the robberies.

It took about half a second for all three humans to put it together. "No way," Calem said, speaking for both himself and Serena.

"It cannot…" Looker started to have that look, now.

But the robot couldn't have been Emma. Emma might have stolen Pokémon in order to survive on the streets, but she wouldn't have attempted to kick Mimi. And she would definitely regret kicking Looker instead, especially in a kick that dropped him to his knees.

"Stop…it…" Looker managed, still struggling to catch his breath. "You have to…stop this…Emma."

"This isn't cool," Calem agreed.

"I AM NOT AN EMMA," the robot insisted. "I AM ESSENTIA."

"Essentia?" Calem had never heard anyone named Essentia before. "If you're not Emma, why did Mimi recognize you?"

"THAT DOES NOT MATTER." Emma, or Essentia, or whatever her name was, was clearly not in her right mind. The robot voice was for more than disguise purposes, it seemed.

"You are the only person Mimi loves," Looker pointed out. "She hates all adults…she respects Calem and Serena for reasons only Sylveon and Mawile truly know…but only Emma has her affection."

"THE ESPURR WAS IN MY WAY. YOU ARE ALL IN MY WAY. YOU MUST BE DELETED."

"Deleted?"

Essentia started to twitch, as if the suit was malfunctioning. Looker tried to reach for her, but she jumped up to the roof before he could.

Serena lifted Mimi off the ground. "Well. That happened."

"Yeah." Calem stared at the roof for longer than was necessary, as if he could still see Essentia. "I guess our next mission is to figure out what's going on with her."

"That is on the agenda, yes." Looker finally got to his feet, only to collapse moments later. "But your next mission is to help me back to the office. I appear to be stuck."


	6. The Truth

**In which we explain how Colress got a "Get out of jail free" card.**

Emma and Mimi were in the office when Calem and Serena returned the next day. Even more confusing, she seemed to have no idea where Looker was, despite it being very likely that she caused his hospital-worthy injury herself.

But if she didn't remember doing it, then there was a chance it wasn't her in the robot suit. So there was a bright side, kind of.

But then Emma left, waving goodbye to Mimi and the heroes as she went, and it was silent for about a minute. Then the door opened.

"This is the Looker Bureau, right?" Hugh. Calem would recognize that hair anywhere.

"It is," Serena said, and Hugh recognized her face enough to approach. "Aren't you supposed to be with your travel group?"

"Nate and Rosa are training, and Colress is talking science with Professor Sycamore. I took the opportunity to sneak out." He looked over his shoulder, then back at them. "I think he might be involved in the Pokémon stealing that's been on the news. Colress, not Sycamore."

"The thief was a woman," Serena pointed out. "We've encountered her more than once, and are working on capturing her. Not that Colress isn't a suspicious character, but he's working with you. You would have noticed if he was up to anything."

"That's what Nate said," he admitted, "but I have a friend to protect. She's easily manipulated by promises of candy, and that's not good for anyone!"

"No, it's not." Serena shot Calem a glare, but he was already taking notes on the conversation. Rolling her eyes, she returned her full attention to Hugh. "With that information, I can see where Rosa might be bribed. What about Nate? Can Nate be bribed into looking the other way in the case of criminal activities?"

"No," Hugh answered reluctantly.

"Can he be threatened into doing so?"

"Not by Colress."

"By Rosa?"

"Probably."

"And how much candy would it take to make her threaten one friend at the request of another?"

"A lot."

"And how much candy has Colress given her over the course of this trip?"

"Only what she earns for being a good test subject and letting him see a Mega Altaria in battle." He sounded defeated. "He supposedly promised the professor he wouldn't be such an…"

And that was when he was cut off by a Lucario bursting through the door. It caught sight of Hugh, growled something, and looked over at Mimi.

 _"Lucario says that Nate wants to kick your butt,"_ she projected through telepathy, and both Calem and Serena laughed at Hugh's moment of surprise.

He recovered quickly, though. "He can't beat me."

But he followed the Lucario anyway. Serena immediately confiscated Calem's notes, only to start taking her own when another man entered.

He was a butler. They could tell even before he told them. And his employer wanted him to battle Calem to make sure that he could be trusted.

"So, let me get this straight." Calem paused, considering his words carefully. "Your employer wants to see if I can be trusted."

"Yes, sir," said the butler.

"Despite the fact that my friends and I had an entire parade dedicated to how we put a stop to Team Flare's plans for global destruction."

"Yes, sir."

"We saved the world, and she still doesn't trust me?"

"That is how she phrased it, yes." The butler held a Pokeball carefully. "Now, shall I tell her you were busy? I don't like to lie to my mistress, but she did request you."

"No, it's fine." Calem reached for a ball. "Come on, Pyroar. Let's get it over with."

* * *

Pyroar defeated the butler's Braviary in just two attacks. The butler did not seem surprised.

"That is exactly what I expected from a Champion," was all he said, before ordering Calem to follow him and telling Serena to stay.

Once the door had closed behind them, Calem dared to speak. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to join my mistress," said the butler.

Calem checked to make sure his Master Ball was still present, and decided to speak again. "Who is this mysterious mistress, anyway?"

"She is waiting in Hotel Richissime's Royal Suite. Can you find it, Mr. Xavier?"

Calem was not used to being addressed as Mr. Xavier when he wasn't in trouble with teachers. Still, he found that following the butler's directions was the easiest way to go, so he walked into the hotel in the hope of finding something interesting.

It came as a surprise to him that the butler's mistress was Malva, former Elite Four member. She laughed at his shock, but didn't get off the couch.

"I'm not here to take your Pokémon," she promised. "It won't get me my Elite position back. Diantha's still upset about the whole Team Flare incident."

"You were in Team Flare?" Now everything made sense. "Diantha only fired you? She didn't have you arrested?"

"How could she? All evidence of my involvement was destroyed with the Ultimate Weapon. She couldn't prove it, and without the proof, nothing could stick." She forced a twisted smile. "But we aren't here to discuss the past. We're here to talk about the present."

"I'm listening." It didn't stop him from reaching for his Holo Caster to call Serena, but Malva let that observation slide.

"I need your help, Calem. Lysandre may or may not be dead, but either way, he's refusing to answer my calls."

"He's probably trying to influence events so that his OTP will live happily ever after, with multiple babies as smart as they are pretty." Calem struggled to keep the sarcasm to a minimum.

"I know, right?" Malva rolled her eyes. "But let's not get distracted by Lysandre's skewed priorities. I called you here to discuss the identity of the trainer called Essentia."

Calem froze. Of course. "You're not involved with her, are you?"

"If I was," Malva said, in the same exasperated tone a babysitter would use on a troublemaking toddler that she didn't get paid enough to watch, "why would I call you to help?"

"Good point."

"But, as it happens, I was involved enough to recognize the Expansion Suit when I saw it. Dr. Xerosic must have conned the girl, Emma I believe, to put it on."

So Emma was Essentia, after all. Useful notes. But it was the other name that stumped the young Champion more: "Who's Dr. Xerosic? It sounds familiar, but…"

"You know him. He was one of Team Flare's scientists." She looked skeptical. "Don't tell me you've already forgotten."

The memories came back quickly. A round man with goggles and just a little bit of red hair, taunting Serena in the dungeon of Team Flare's base. Of course Calem remembered, he was the only male Flare scientist that the duo had encountered. "I always called him Shaved Eggman."

"Shaved Eggman?" She tried to keep her professional journalist's face, but the casual comment made her smile just a little bit. "I might use that one myself. But I need you to make him disappear."

"I'm not going to kill anyone," Calem said quickly.

"Yeah, I figured you wouldn't. You're too much of a wuss." She leaned back into the couch she was sitting on. "He doesn't need to die. He might be more useful alive. I just want him _gone._ "

And the lyrics were back in Calem's brain. "I'll see what I can do," he promised.

"Good." Malva got to her feet. "If you hurry, you can find him at Lysandre's Café. He wouldn't want to leave all of his Team Flare experiments behind."

"Shouldn't we call Serena?"

"Your personal cheerleader?" It was Malva's turn to be surprised. "What use could _she_ be?"

* * *

"It should be easy," Serena said as the three of them arrived at the ridiculously red building. It was looking more and more likely that Malva hadn't lied, and Xerosic was using this for his base. "We have a Champion, a future Champion, and a former Elite Four member. There's only one of him, two if he has Essentia to back him up. We can handle this."

"And yet neither of you realized that Team Flare was involved," Malva pointed out.

"Shut up."

Malva did shut up, and gestured for the heroes to follow her into Lysandre Labs. She had previously promised access to a secret area, and though they were suspicious, they followed her anyway.

She punched in a secret password on the elevator buttons, hoping that Xerosic hadn't changed it yet. She didn't care about these kids, but that didn't mean that she wanted Xerosic to go unchallenged.

"Xerosic and Essentia should be down there," she told them. "You should know your way around. You've defeated Team Flare once."

"And you expect us to remember?" Calem complained. "It's been months!"

"You'll figure it out." She started to leave, but stopped to give them a message. "And tell your partner that I held up my end of the bargain. I expect him to do the same."

With that, she walked through the door, leaving them alone.

"That was slightly unexpected," Calem said as they entered the elevator. "I guess the Unova gang don't have anything to do with this, after all. They just have really bad timing."

"As Looker told you from the start." Serena wasn't in the mood for conversation. Instead, she was clearly wishing that she had captured Xerneas already, as two legendary Pokémon were better than one.

Especially since the first thing that happened when they stepped off the elevator was that they got caught by a scientist. Fortunately, she didn't know that Calem had entered the Hall of Fame.

It didn't take long before Trevenant and Pyroar had defeated her own Pokémon.

* * *

Aside from encountering one of Emma's gang friends acting as a security guard, and convincing him to let them pass because Yveltal was still in the picture, Calem and Serena seemed to be getting somewhere with this.

But as soon as they entered the room he was guarding, they stopped.

"Did they ever tell you what you were watching?" Serena asked, picking up a Pokeball from the ground as Calem examined the books.

"I asked once," the gang member answered, "but he just told me I asked too many questions." He stopped to think. "In hindsight, maybe working for these guys was a bad gig. What do you want?"

"This concerns Emma," Calem explained. "We have reason to believe she's the one stealing Pokémon from people."

"Emma?" Now he looked concerned. "Emma never got into that stuff. She kept us from getting into that stuff. Why would she steal Pokémon?"

"I think I've got it." Calem held out a book. "It says here that Emma is sixteen years old, surprisingly strong despite her living situation, and entirely in a coma as she commits various crimes."

"Oh," said the gang member.

A bell rang, startling them all into dropping the papers, and the heroes watched as the gang member wished them luck and fled the scene. The reason for this was clear: Xerosic himself had arrived.

Even worse, he noticed them.

"You're the girl from the glitched trial," he said, leaning over Serena carefully, not seeming to notice that she was literally biting her tongue to keep from making an Eggman comment. "You are the only reason my experiment has failed so far."

"I think there's a lot of reasons your experiment failed." Serena scoffed. "The main reason being that you were involved at all. Your last big creation was made 3,000 years before your time, and you still did a crappy job."

Xerosic stepped back studied the intruders. "I recognize you now. Both of you were here five months ago. You took Yveltal, and you defeated Lysandre," he growled as he pointed to each of them for their own actions.

"And you're the guy from the button choosing room." Calem sneered, crossing his arms. "You're the big stinky cheater."

"We weren't playing checkers, you little brat!" Xerosic yelled, stomping his foot against the ground. He then took a moment to calm himself down, and sneered at them. "But, believe it or not, I'm glad you're here. I can test out my new upgrades on you."

"Why?" Serena's question was short, but her voice was ridged. "Why are you doing this? A you really that mad about what happened to Team Flare?"

Xerosic must have somehow thought this was funny, because he started laughing to himself. "I never cared about what happened to Team Flare. I wasn't supportive of Lysandre's death ray. Even though I believed what he said, my notes still showed that we would take out our own numbers. And anyone who would take a cannon to their own ship is not mentally stable."

"Then why did you help him in the first place?"

"Because my life is really boring," he said with a shrug. "I could either join the cool evil organization, or continue my life of playing video games in my mom's basement until her Pidgey tackled me in the chest." Calem took a step back as the similarities registered with him, but Xerosic kept on ranting. "There may not be anything boring about living on the run, but these tests sure bring more spice to my life."

Serena began to lower her guard. "That's so sad."

"I feel sick," Calem moaned as he leaned on Serena for support, fighting the instinct to faint. "I always thought I was Sonic, but it turns out I'm Eggman."

"Your friend is weird," Xerosic calmly replied. "You might want to get him to a doctor. Luckily, I know someone who would be proud to escort you. Come, Essentia!" No sooner had the command left his mouth than the girl came down from the ceiling.

Ignoring the fact that the scene came right out of an anime, Serena raised up a Pokeball. "I'll warn you that I beat Lysandre five months ago, and have only gotten stronger since. Now, are you going to give back the Pokémon you stole, or do we have to do it the hard way?"

"Here's my answer," their foe retorted as he adjusted his goggles. "Essentia, attack!"

Half of the screen over her face began to glow a bright yellow. "POKEBALL JACK FUNCTION INITIATED. VIRUS POTENCY SET TO 60 PERCENT."

* * *

It did not take just the one battle. It took three. By the last one, Calem had taken over, and had decided to just use Yveltal and get it over with.

"Oblivion Wing," he said, sounding almost bored.

It wasn't the stolen Persian that made the loud cry that followed immediately after, though it was taken out of the battle. The cry came from Mimi, and it was more excitement than pain.

She had finally found the human she loved, and the humans she admired. Looker followed, prepared to arrest Xerosic for kidnapping and Pokémon theft at the very least.

"How did you find us?" Xerosic raged. "This is private property!"

"It's not breaking and entering if you have the code," Looker pointed out. "And in addition, Calem and Serena are my partners in crime-stopping! It was my duty to know what they were getting into!" He gave both of them an annoyed stare. "Even if I had to rely on Mimi's psychic powers to find them."

"I guess we should have told you where we were going," Serena admitted. "But in our defense, you weren't really there for us to explain in person."

"And on top of all that, it doesn't even matter." Xerosic pointed at Yveltal, who was still out of the ball and blocking the heroes' view of Essentia. "Essentia! Take Yveltal, so that no one will dare stand up to me again!"

Yveltal watched in amusement as Essentia tried and failed to shove the enormous bird into a small box. Either the suit was a very literal servant, or Emma had regained some of her consciousness and decided to be a troll.

Looker seemed to believe the latter. "Can you hear me, Emma?" he called, even though Essentia didn't look up from her task. "If you can hear me, I know you can break free of that suit! Emma!"

Mimi's stare shifted from Essentia to Looker, then to Calem, then back to Essentia. Seeing how Looker's call didn't seem to work, she decided to take matters into her own hands. Or paws, to be more accurate.

Of course, the most accurate word would be 'head,' as she decided that the best way to act was to wait until Essentia had attempted to drag Yveltal off by the tail, which had about as much success as trying to stuff it into a shoe box, and jumped up to slam her head against the back of the helmet. Essentia swayed on the spot, and then collapsed onto the tail.

Serena looked confused. "Can an Espurr learn Headbutt?"

"It might not count if it's not an actual attack," Calem answered immediately.

Looker jumped at the chance to remove the helmet, but it was stuck on tightly. Xerosic peeked over Yveltal's wing to watch, and then did something that no one in the room suspected.

He turned the suit off.

"There was never any real danger," he explained. "She knew what she was signing up for. Perhaps I hid a few of my more criminal intentions from her, but I would never have done any permanent damage."

To prove his point, Essentia spoke, in Emma's voice instead of the voice of the robot suit.

"Is the test over?"

"Your job is over," Xerosic clarified. "There is nothing more to test."

"Cool. You'll help me get a new job, right?"

"Of course."

That's when Emma seemed to notice exactly what it was that she was on top of. "Is this…Yveltal?" She looked around at the others. "How did you guys get here? I thought this was supposed to be a secret mission."

"Never mind us!" Looker gestured to the suit. "What about you? You're not hurt?"

"Nope!" It was easy to imagine her smile behind the mask. "I just had to wear this suit while I slept, and he would make my body do things like clean toilets. Then I'd get paid, and could afford a Pokeball for Mimi!"

"You did a lot more than just toilet scrubbing," Calem said under his breath, looking pointedly at a stolen Pokeball.

Emma didn't notice. "I didn't tell you because I thought you'd be mad. But I guess you found me anyway."

"Of course." Looker wasn't pleased by this. He'd dealt with stubborn partners before, but this was ridiculous. "Why don't you three go out for dinner? I need to talk to Xerosic here."

"No problem!" Emma was as cheerful as ever. "I need to get out of this suit first, though. Hey, do you mind if I pay for my own food? It's still kind of new…"

"Not at all," Serena promised, "as long as you let me use you as a life-sized paper doll."

"And let me stay as far away from that nonsense as possible," Calem added as he finally returned Yveltal.

The three left the room. Looker stared Xerosic down, and was pleased to see the other man start to sweat a little. "You were the mastermind behind it all, were you not?"

"All of it," Xerosic confessed. "From the museum's graffiti to the Pokémon snatching."

"And Emma does not know what her body was doing?"

"Not at all. If anyone is going to be arrested, it should be me alone." He paused. "Though I did hear that you let a mad scientist in Unova off due to his friendship with a girl around Emma's age…"

"Professor Juniper had heard of a strange event involving Zekrom and Kyurem from her assistant, who was a regular encounter on Rosa's path to the Hall of Fame. Bianca had apparently been told by Nate, with the video evidence to back up his claim. The professor convinced me to put him under careful supervision, claiming that his knowledge of Pokémon fusion was something that would likely come in handy if we were to ever face something like that again. Of course, had his friendship with Rosa, or Nate for that matter, involved talking them into wearing a brainwashing suit so they could commit crimes…well. He would not have been nearly so lucky."

"And can the professor be trusted?"

"She regularly sends reports on his projects, and allows me to step in to search his lab any time I think it's needed. Trust me, I come by often. She's as intelligent as he is, and much more observant than most give her credit for. I have reason to believe she saw through my disguise, though I said not one word." He immediately dropped the conversation. "You will be spending some time in prison for this, of course."

"I understand." Xerosic didn't seem upset by this. Instead, it sounded like he was willing to take this as a method of entertainment.

"Of course, once you're free…you would be allowed to come and say hello to Emma at any time."

Now that was a surprise. "You'll allow me to remain her friend?"

"On the condition that she is the one to supervise you personally, should she happen to forgive you for what you made her do."

It was the best he could be offered, given the circumstances. "Thank you, Looker. Or whatever your real name is. I'm ready to use mad science for good instead of evil...most of the time."


	7. New Lives and Champion Battles

**When we first published Case Closed, we didn't know we'd finish it on the editor's birthday. She said that "less stress" would be her present to herself. Since she finished the last scene just before midnight the night before, I'd want a break, too.**

 **And, because we've grown too attached to our fanfic universe, we still have more Pokedex Adventures planned out. Actual adventures. One villain song is already on its second draft.**

Calem and Serena did not return to the Looker Bureau until they'd heard that the detective had left the hospital because the doctor allowed it, instead of tying up a doctor to steal his uniform and escape, as he had told them he'd done to chase them down and catch Xerosic.

Emma had called them with the Holo Caster that Looker had given her, but had refused to tell them anything specific out of fear that they would be overheard. A wise decision, Calem knew, especially with the fact that Lysandre had used his invention to spy on people. He wasn't sure if Emma knew that, but he wasn't going to tell her.

When they arrived, Emma was standing on Looker's chair, attempting to hang a banner that she'd made from a bed sheet. She looked at the door just long enough to recognize them before returning to her task. "Hi! Can you give me a hand?"

Serena immediately released Juliet, and gave the Delphox orders to assist with the banner while she and Calem got to watch. "Why couldn't Mimi help?" she asked.

"Mimi went to get Looker and help him walk," Emma explained. "She's really starting to respect him now."

"Of course she is." Calem shrugged. "He got her human back, didn't he?"

"You technically got me back," Emma said, dropping her voice a little. She'd decided to allow Xerosic to stay in her life, since he had paid her enough to afford a Pokeball for her Espurr, but still had trouble completely forgiving him. "You defeated Essentia. He just showed up to yell at my boss."

The conversation was interrupted by Mimi herself, who immediately ran right up to Emma and handed her a paper. She took it, took a little longer than she should to read it, and then let her face slip into confusion.

"I don't understand."

"What happened?"

Emma turned the letter around so they could read it for themselves.

"My dearest friends," the letter said, "I am afraid I have deceived you all. I am not a detective at all, but a member of the International Police! I am sure you must be shocked." Calem was not. A real detective would have given them a longer training period. He only wondered why Looker thought detectives wouldn't be part of the International Police. "I'm sure you must be wondering about my hospital stay. The truth is, I have lied to you all. It was for your own protection, of course. But there is another reason I leave this letter to you."

"Cop business?" Serena asked.

Emma rolled her eyes. "Keep going, Serena."

Serena returned her eyes to the paper.

"My mission is completed, and my time in Kalos is done." Serena barely restrained herself from whispering 'I knew it.' "I must leave behind this region, and my friends. To Calem and Serena, you have been excellent partners. I would like you to know that if you are ever in need of assistance, for as long as I am with the International Police, you will have our support whenever you need it. And as for Emma, I leave you and Mimi the office and my position as detective. I have purchased the whole building, so you will not need to worry about rent. You will be taking on a big responsibility, but it is one that pays, so you do not need to go looking for any more jobs from mad scientists. Keep an eye on any suspicious activity throughout the region, and keep the new Champion informed at all times. I'm sure he will appreciate the help. Won't you, Calem?"

Since he had not paused in the middle of reading it, Calem spoke first. "So he's ditching us?"

"Don't say it like that!" Emma whined, and Serena saw a few tears in her eyes. "He's going to come back, right? He has to, to see how well I'm doing as a detective and if I can keep the Champion updated…"

"I'm sure he will," Serena promised. Then she looked over at Calem. "But I'm sure the Champion isn't going to need your updates for a while. Right, Calem?"

"Right," he agreed. "I'm sure I'll need your help someday, but I think for now I'm just going to go home and rethink…everything."

Emma immediately rounded on him. "And why didn't you tell me you were going to actually be at the League before?"

"I was sworn not to."

Emma's shoulders slumped. It made sense. "Take the banner down, Mimi," she instructed, and Mimi followed the order, ignoring Juliet's whine about how she just got it up. "Then we're going to go look for him."

Serena wondered if she should stop her, but Calem held her back. "She'll get over it."

"And if not?"

"We'll burn that bridge when we get to it."

* * *

They couldn't catch Emma. They weren't surprised, she knew the alleys of Lumiose City better than they did. But when they didn't find her or Looker in the museum, they were a little worried for her. What if someone recognized that she had the same height and body type as Essentia?

Luckily, as soon as they were out of the museum, she managed to call them.

"Calem? Serena?" She was clearly still inexperienced with using a Holo Caster. "I got a message from Xerosic. He's with Looker at Lysandre Café! I'm going to take Mimi there, so maybe you could join us?"

And she turned it off.

One short trip to Lysandre Café later, and the two found Looker and Xerosic standing by the bar, with no sign of Emma or Mimi anywhere.

"I have returned all of the Pokeballs that Essentia stole," Xerosic was saying. "Now, if you will give me a minute…"

"You have no minutes left," Looker pointed out. "You must come with me at once! Our train is about to depart!"

Xerosic glanced to the door, looking slightly worried, but when he saw Calem and Serena, he relaxed. "Ah. There they are."

Looker whirled around, preparing to find a swarm of Flare grunts who wanted their boss back, but instead found his partners. "What are you doing here?"

"Emma must have invited them." Xerosic sounded like he'd planned this all out.

"Emma?"

Right as the name left Looker's mouth, Emma's head appeared in the doorway. "Yes, Mr. Looker?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm saying goodbye, you idiot!" Emma smacked him on the shoulder. "You lied to all of us, put me in a position I'm not ready to have, and now you're leaving without a goodbye? I don't think so!"

"I'm sorry, Emma," Looker said, slightly defensive, "but my letter explains everything. You are ready to graduate from being my assistant, as you now know what to look for in a criminal." He gave Xerosic a pointed stare. "And you have Mimi to interfere if you ever find yourself working for another one as part of a mission."

"But can I really be a detective, if you were never a real one to begin with?"

"Ask Professor Sycamore for a Pokedex," Calem suggested. "You're 16, right? That's still young enough. You can use Mimi to battle and catch more Pokémon, and maybe even take the Gym challenge. I'm sure I can get Di…uh. Use my Champion authority to get fake cases set up for you to solve, so you feel ready when you come back to work."

"But what if there are more crimes in Lumiose while I'm gone?"

"We can get the professor to pay closer attention." Serena rolled her eyes. "Trust me, if anyone knows what to look for, it's him. He's probably still beating himself up over Lysandre."

Xerosic suddenly laughed, startling all of them. "Detective," he scoffed. "Pokémon trainer. All of that is certainly… _interesting._ But why settle for the normal life, when you can be a superhero?"

Despite her frustration and sadness, Emma lightened up a little at the thought. "A superhero?"

"Take the Expansion Suit," Xerosic told her. "I removed the remote-control functions, so I won't get any use out of it now. Use it to confront the criminals of the city. Consider this the origin story of Essentia X."

"I'll have to pick a different name," Emma said, no hesitation, getting even Looker to smile a little. "But I like the idea. Using an evil suit to do good for the city..."

"Go, go, Power Ranger," Calem sang under his breath.

"Calem!" Serena, Looker, and Emma all snapped at once.

Xerosic did not yell at Calem, and reached into his pocket to give Emma a few Pokeballs. "And I suppose Mimi will need some new friends. You can keep these while I am…unavailable. When I am released, I will return for them. Though, of course, I will trade for them, so you will never have to rely on only Mimi again."

"You're letting me hold on to your Pokémon?" Emma finally started to cry. "Dr. Xerosic…"

Looker cleared his throat. "If you don't mind, I need to take Dr. Xerosic away, now. I'll allow him to call you, Emma."

"And I'll take good care of his Pokémon and the suit," Emma promised.

They left the café in pairs – Looker and Xerosic, Calem and Serena, Emma and Mimi. And all of them promised it wouldn't be the last time they met.

* * *

Professor Sycamore's lab was unusually crowded when Calem arrived for his double-Champion match with Rosa. Rosa's personal cheerleading squad was there, of course, with Nate sitting between Hugh and Colress with a look on his face that made it clear he'd be interfering whenever one of them lost Good Boy Points. But, with the pair's permission, the professor had brought along a few guests of his own. Diantha, Dexio, Sina…Calem even got Trevor to show up, just so he could record it for Tierno and Shauna.

They'd chosen to do it out in the Pokémon play yard, because Calem planned to use Yveltal to be one of the Pokémon used in the battle. Rosa had agreed almost too enthusiastically. That sounded like something interesting.

But first, Serena had to interrogate Colress.

"Calem thought you were involved in the Pokémon robberies." He didn't even blink. "You don't know a Dr. Xerosic, do you?"

He thought hard. "I might have seen him in a science convention," he admitted. "But I can assure you, I have nothing to hide. I didn't do it."

"But is there a chance that you could have helped? Left notes or something?"

"In another universe, yes, I'm sure I was involved with Xerosic. However, I'm also sure that, somewhere in the multiverse, there is a Colress who never had his conscience unlocked by a pair of annoying children." He gestured to Nate. "If he and Rosa had minded their own business, I would be in Team Plasma's Unova, plotting the downfall of Ghetsis myself."

Serena ignored that last part to focus on the first. "You believe in the multiverse theory?"

"Why deny the evidence?"

Serena looked at him as if he'd short-circuited her brain. He seemed to enjoy that, as his own mood lightened considerably even before the two Champions stood in proper battle position.

"I hope Rosa knows what she's up against," Serena said quietly.

"I'm sure she does." It was Diantha's voice that answered, not one of the scientists. "Augustine reassured her that she wouldn't be cheating if she brought out her rarest Pokémon to face Calem's."

It took Serena a few seconds to process. "Rosa has a legendary?"

Diantha held a finger to her lips and pointed at the battlefield. Calem had started with Pyroar, while Rosa had chosen an Azumarill. A female Azumarill, since opening with Attract before switching to Aqua Tail won Rosa the round, but Calem retaliated by using Trevenant and hitting with Energy Ball before she could process what was happening.

Azumarill made it through the attack, but seeing her get hurt was enough to convince Rosa to use a Zoroark for it, and it managed to convince Calem that it was an Altaria. Scizor came out to deal with that problem, and Calem triggering Mega Evolution caused Rosa to choose her Altaria do the same, apparently not used to her bird becoming a Fairy-type and opening it up for Steel attacks. The Ampharos was next to fall, but Azumarill managed to win that battle despite her own Fairy typing. To fight Eddie, Rosa used a pig with a beard that his Pokedex called Emboar but she called Greg.

Then, when both were down to only one Pokémon, it came down to the secret weapons.

On Calem's side, there was Yveltal. A Pokémon worshiped in ancient times as the bringer of death and destruction, currently taking orders from a boy with too much time on his hands. But on Rosa's side, there was a beast of horror that Calem could place more from its broken features than a picture or statue he'd seen.

"You have a _man-eating Pokémon_ on your team?" he whined, and Rosa shrugged.

"You have a literal sky demon," she pointed out. "What's your point?"

Kyurem itself watched Yveltal, obviously curious. Here was a legendary it hadn't seen in a long time.

Yveltal noticed, and immediately tried to be intimidating. "Maaw-haaw!"

Kyurem said nothing. Rosa decided to call the first move.

"Kyurem, Glaciate!"

It was only as the icicles were moving closer that Calem realized exactly what the problem with this situation was. He didn't think that Yveltal would be facing a type disadvantage.

"Oblivion Wing!" he called out in desperation.

And that was the move that, through repeated use, ended up saving Calem from the dreaded 'loss' status.

Rosa wasn't disappointed. "And here I thought you were going to be just like any other strong trainer. I should have expected you to have a legendary."

"Pokedex carriers tend to draw them in, don't we?" He gestured to the Master Ball holding Kyurem as he said it.

"I guess we do." She looked over at Nate. "How many did we meet on our journey, again?"

Nate thought it over. "Kyurem, obviously…Zekrom…all four Musketeers…"

"I just found Keldeo on my Pokedex journey," Hugh complained. "And then it kicked me and ran away instead of letting me catch it."

"Then you should have come with us instead of letting me handle things on my own." Rosa stuck her tongue out at him.

"Does Cresselia count?" Nate asked, not seeming to have heard the conversation. "I only encountered her after you became Champion, and you only met her when I brought her home…"

Diantha and all of the scientists barely managed to suppress laughter at Calem's horrified expression as he realized he could only remember meeting two legendaries. "It looks like you have a lot to talk about," she suggested. "Rosa, do you and your friends have to leave right away?"

"We don't _have_ to," Rosa said, "but we probably should before Colress gets recognized. We're lucky the Mega Evolution Guru didn't shoot him."

"He did use both of the Gym Leader's Lucario friends to keep him out of the Tower," Nate filled in.

"So we'll have another battle in Unova someday." The suggestion was quick, but Calem hadn't studied these people enough. They could still be up to something entirely different. "Professor Juniper's lab. Serena against one of your sidekicks."

"I volunteer," Hugh called before Nate could speak.

"Why would you be coming to Unova?" Nate asked, pretending Hugh hadn't spoken.

"One of our friends went to do Musicals," Serena said, trying to sound like it wasn't a big deal. "And another friend is there just for fun. We can stop by Juniper's lab for a battle on our way to visit."

"Have the professor call me when you get in, then," Rosa said with a big smile, almost like Emma's. Then she pulled Nate along, Hugh and Colress already halfway gone, before shouting her goodbyes and closing the door behind her.

Sycamore leaned against a tree, not noticing that Serena immediately noticed how pretty he was when doing so. "Aurea has her hands full with them, doesn't she?"

Diantha didn't seem quite as concerned. "They seem to be doing all right. I don't see a problem." Like she was playing a clingy girlfriend, she wrapped both her arms around one of his and gave him the most overdone puppy eyes he'd ever seen. "Unless you're thinking about her more than you're thinking about me."

The professor faked innocence. "Careful, Diantha. Someone might report to the magazines that you're desperate to hold on to a drifting love's heart, and those are always the most difficult rumors to clear up."

"Our friends won't report it," she protested, even as she dropped the puppy eyes.

"I might," Serena muttered under her breath.

Calem immediately decided to distract her. "It's been over a week since Sylveon had an accident," he pointed out. "We can get pizza and party with Trevor and Emma. Just the four of us and our Pokémon."

Serena deliberately looked away from Sycamore. "That's a wonderful idea."

It was the best simple party Calem had ever been to. It was the first pizza that Emma had ever had. And it was entirely undeserved, as Sylveon attempted to eat the pizza box once the food inside was gone.

But they were all together, and they were all happy. Someday, the world would need saving again. But they had Emma as backup now, and the three of them would be more than happy to become the Defenders of Kalos whenever they were needed.

As long as they actually got better disguises than just masks and scarves.


End file.
